To give myself a reason to look back on this season, I've started this series of blog posts to review each player that spent time in St. Louis during 2012. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny's office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter.

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Positives: If Bob Netherton was serving up crow after Lohse's 2011, he had a whole restaurant going after this season. There were very few games where Lohse didn't give the team a chance to win--he allowed more than four runs just three times in the regular season and two of those games the Cards managed to win anyway--and he could have put up more than the 16 wins if the offense had come through for him. Lohse had great timing as well, since he'll earn bunches of bucks in the free agent market after a season like that.

Negatives: Whatever the reasons, whether it was fatigue or just a bit of law of averages, September was not Lohse's strongest month, posting a 3.89 ERA and a .685 OPS against in those starts. While that would have been pretty acceptable for him throughout the whole season, after such a great first few months it was a bit of a letdown. He also struggled against the Giants in the NLCS, winning Game 3 but walking five and allowing seven hits in less than six innings, then getting the quick hook in Game 7 as it all fell apart for him.

Outlook: In a vacuum, you'd say that the Cards should bring back Lohse, which is a far cry from what most people were saying just a couple of years ago. However, due to the fact that 1) he's going to be pricey, 2) he's going to want a long-term deal and 3) the Cardinals have many young arms ready to take his slot, the only offer he'll receive from St. Louis is the qualifying offer so they can get the draft pick. Lohse will be starting somewhere else in 2013 but has rehabilitated his image in Cardinal Nation successfully.

The BBA has, as a secondary aim, the goal of producing year-end
awards in a similar fashion to the Baseball Writers of America. These
awards can be found at the official site in October with links back to the voters,
ensuring transparency and, most likely, the onset of some good baseball
arguments.